Baseball Headline

Tuesday April 16, 2013Florida Baseball Raises Winning Streak To Six Games With 5-3 Victory Over FGCU

Sophomore
Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) snapped a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in
the sixth inning and Florida (20-18) added three more runs in the seventh
inning to post a 5-3 victory over FGCU (20-13) on Tuesday night in front of
4,525 spectators at Hammond Stadium, the home of the Fort Myers Miracle and the
spring training home of the Minnesota Twins.

Sophomore
left-hander Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) (1-0) permitted one run and
four hits over a career-high 5.1 innings to lift the Gators to their
sixth-consecutive victory, while sophomore Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton,
Fla.) (2-for-4) delivered a two-run double in the seventh, senior Vickash
Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) (2-for-4) chipped in with a two-out RBI single in the
seventh and sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) went 2-for-5.
Sophomore Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) had three strikeouts over
the final 1.2 innings to secure his ninth save in 10 opportunities this season.
The Gators overcame five errors, leading to two unearned runs, in downing the
Eagles in the teams’ fourth meeting of the campaign.

Sophomore
Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) opened the game with a single into
shallow center field off of senior Danny Patrick but was thrown out trying to
steal second base. Gushue drew a two-out walk and advanced to third on Shafer’s
team-leading 14th double. Patrick kept the Gators scoreless by having redshirt
sophomore Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) fly out to center field.

In
the home part of the inning, freshman Nick Rivera opened the scoring for FGCU
with a two-out RBI single into left field. Freshman Tyler Selesky (2-for-4) had
led off with a single into center field and was sacrificed over by senior Mike
Reeves.Poyner had junior Sean Dwyer fly out to left for the second out
but then had a wild pitch that pushed Selesky to third base. Junior Brandon
Bednar was hit by a pitch to give the Eagles runners on the corners and Rivera
broke the ice with a base-knock into left. However, the Gators threw out Bednar
trying to take third on the play to complete the inning.

Florida
loaded the bases with one down in the fourth and tied the contest on an RBI
single by freshman Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.). Shafer started the
frame with a base-hit into left field and Powers followed with a single into
center field for Gators on the corners with none out, prompting a pitching
change. Senior RJ Brown replaced Patrick (3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R) and hadRamjit
pop up in foul territory behind first base. Bader delivered a single into left
field to bring across Shafer with the tying run but Brown worked out of the jam
by having senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) hit into an inning-ending
3-2 double play.

Tobiasgave the Gators a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning. Powers worked a four-pitch walk
with one down and Ramjit sliced a single through the right side of the infield.
Tobias launched a long single into left center to score Powers and give the
visitors runners on first and third with one down. FGCU turned an inning-ending
5-2-6-5 double play to hold its deficit at one run.

Dwyer
reached on a one-out fielding error by Ramjit in the bottom of the stanza,
prompting a pitching change, as sophomore Ryan Harris (Jupiter, Fla.)
came in for Poyner. Over a career-high 5.1 innings, Poyner yielded four hits,
tied his career-best of four strikeouts and allowed one run. A fielder’s choice
by Bednar forced Dwyer for the second out and Bednar moved into scoring
position with his fifth stolen base. Harris induced a grounder by Rivera to
preserve UF’s lead.

The
Gators tacked on three more runs in the seventh, highlighted by a two-run
double by Gushue and two-out RBI single by Ramjit, to expand the count to 5-1.
Dent and Turgeon earned consecutive walks to begin the inning and junior
Harrison Cooney was summoned to replace Brown (3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 4 BB). The
right-hander struck out freshman Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) and
Gushue cleared the bases with his ninth two-bagger of the season down the
right-field line. Shafer reached on an error and a fielder’s choice by Powers
erased Shafer at second and moved Gushue to third with two out. Ramjit
increased the Gators’ margin to four runs when he poked a 2-2 offering through
the left side of the infield.

Redshirt
senior Brooks Beisner was plunked to begin FGCU’s seventh and Harris caught
sophomore Michael Suchy looking on strikes. Harris mishandled freshman Colton
Bottomley’s grounder for an error and then had an errant throw that allowed
Beisner to reach third base. A sacrifice fly by junior Andrew Valencia narrowed
the gap to 5-2 and junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) replaced Harris
(1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER). The southpaw yielded a single into left center by
Selesky and jammed Reeves on an infield fly to complete the frame.

After
Gibson (0.1 IP, 1 H) fanned Dwyer to start the Eagles’ eighth, Magliozzi took
the mound. The right-hander struck out Bednar for the second out and issued a
walk to Rivera. Beisner’s fly ball to right field was dropped, allowing Rivera
to reach third base, and Suchy’s fly ball to center field was misplayed,
enabling FGCU to pull within, 5-3. Magliozzi had a fielder’s choice end the stanza.

With
the Eagles down to their final three outs, Magliozzi worked a perfect ninth and
notched a pair of strikeouts to send the Gators home winners. Florida had an
11-5 advantage in hits.

The
Gators return to SEC play on Friday night with their first-ever trip to
Missouri (12-20/4-11 SEC). The game will begin at 7 p.m. ET and can be heard on
the Gator IMG Sports Network with JeffCardozo and Steve
Russell. Live audio and stats will be available on GatorZone.com and fans can also follow updates of each
game on @GatorZoneBB, the official Twitter account of the Gator baseball
program.

Game
Notes

·Florida
improved to 2-0 all-time against FGCU in games played in Fort Myers.

·Sophomore
Bobby Poyner made his second start of the season and second in a row on a
Tuesday night after going four innings at No. 7 Florida State on April 9.

·Poyner’s
only collegiate win prior to tonight occured on March 6, 2012, against Florida
Atlantic.

·Sophomore
Justin Shafer’s first-inning double raised his hitting streak to five games,
his season and career high is 10 games.

·Freshman
Harrison Bader’s game-tying single in the fourth boosted his hitting streak to
six games, two shy of his personal best.

·Sophomore
Casey Turgeon was 1-for-3 and drew two walks out of the leadoff spot.